Portable boat launching and beaching apparatus



D. A. LEE

Nov. 10, 1953 PORTABLE BOAT LAUNCHING AND BEACHING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 24, 1952 44 FIG. 1.

FIG. 3.

INVENTOR L E E,

DONOVAN A.

Maw 6mm 40m ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 10, 1953 PORTABLE BOAT LAUNCHING AND BEACHING APPARATUS Donovan A. Lee, Suttons Bay, Mich.

Application October 24, 1952, Serial No. 316,650

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for handling boats, particularly small craft. More particularly, the invention has reference to a structure of the type stated on which boats can be rolled either into or out of the water, said structure being so formed as to permit it to be readily carried from place to place, and set up wherever needed.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a light, readily portable apparatus for beaching and launching small boats, which will be so designed as to be capable of being erected wherever it may be needed, the apparatus Con stituting the present invention being so designed as to protect the hull and keel of the boat from sand, stones, or the like, while said boat is being launched or beached.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the type stated which, when used in pairs, can serve as a portable dry dock whereon boats can be stored or repaired.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the type stated in which will be embodied a supporting frame adapted to be erected at a desired location merely by extension of a portion of said frame into the ground surface.

Still another object is to provide a structure as described wherein there will be mounted, on the supporting frame, keel rollers and hull rollers, operatively related in a manner to steady and guide the boat while the boat is being launched or beached.

Still another object is to provide apparatus of the type stated wherein the hull rollers will be capable of adjustment to selected positions, relative to the keel rollers, thus to permit the apparatus to accommodate boats of varying cros sectional shapes.

Still another object is to provide apparatus of the type stated which can be constructed inexpensively, will be rugged, and will comprise a minimum of parts so arranged as not to readily get out of order.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 i a front elevational view of an apparatus formed in accordance with the present invention, as it appears when in use, a boat supported thereby being illustrated fragmentarily;

Figure 2 is a top plan view; and

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

In the several figures of the drawing, thereference numeral ID has been applied generally, to designate a support frame constituting a component part of the present invention. Carried by the support frame is a keel support assembly designated generally at I2, and a hull support assembly designated generally at H.

Considering first the construction of the sup? porting frame), said frame is formed general- 1y to the shape of an inverted U, the frame having spaced, vertical leg [6 pointed at their lower ends, as at I8, for extension of said legs into the ground surface G.

Rigid with the upper ends of the legs I6, and extending horizontally between the legs, is a bight 20, said bight constituting a cross bar of the frame and being formed, when viewed in cross section, as an inverted V see Figure 3).

It is desired that the legs l6 be limited, so far as the extent of their movement into the ground is concerned, and to this end, there is fixedly secured to the midlength portionof each leg a stop member 22 (see Figures 1 and 3) The stop members 22 are respectively formed from angle iron material, the midlength portion of each stop member being bolted or otherwise fixedly secured to its associated leg 16. It will be seen that when the support frame I0 is forced downwardly into the ground G, the stop members 22 will engage the surface of the ground, to limit said downward movement.

Provided at opposite ends of the cross bar 20 are c-shaped roller support brackets 24. Each, roller support bracket 24 includes an upper, horizontally disposed flange 26, a lower, horizontally disposed flange 28, and a vertical bight extending between and rigidly connecting said flanges. The bight of each bracket is welded or otherwise fixedly secured to the upper ends .of the legs IS, the upper portions of the respective brackets projecting abovesaid upper ends of the legs [6.

The respective roller support brackets 24 are adapted to provide bearings for the opposite ends of parallel, horizontally disposed, keel roller shafts 30, said shafts 30 projecting from opposite ends of a pair of keel rollers 32. The keel rollers 32 are thus supported horizontally upon the frame l0, and are adapted to provide a support for the keel K of a boat, said boat also having a hull H.

Formed in the flanges 26, 28 of the respective brackets 24 are vertically aligned openings 34, said openings receiving the lower end portion of a hull roller support shaft 36.

As will be noted from Figure 1, each shaft 88 has its lower end portion extended vertically, said lower end portion being adjustable in the direction of its length, within the openings of the flanges 26, 28.

In each position to which the lower end portions of the shafts 36 are adjusted, they can be clamped against movement. To this end, there is secured to the lower flange 28 of each bracket 24 a clamp block 38, said block having an opening receiving the lower end portion of its assoclated hull roller support shaft (Figure 1). A thumb screw 40 is threadable horizontally within each clamp block 38, against the shaft, thus to hold the shaft against movement from any position to which it is adjusted.

The upper end portions 42 of the shafts 28 are inclined outwardly in opposite directions, from their associated brackets 24, as shown in Figure l, and rotatably mounted upon said end portions 42 are hull rollers 44. this arrangement, the axes of rotation of the respective hull rollers 44 converge downwardly, in the direction of the keel rollers 32, and are adapted to support the hull H at opposite sides of the keel of the boat.

It will be seen from the construction illustrated and described that the apparatus is so designed as to permit a boat to be shifted into or out of the water, the boat keel rolling upon the rollers 32, and the opposite sides of the hull rolling upon the rollers 44. It may be noted that in commercial embodiments of the invention, the keel and hull rollers may be covered with rubber or any other material designed to prevent marring of the portions of the boat engaged thereby.

It will also be seen that the hull rollers can be adjusted relative to the keel rollers, to selected elevations, the purpose of this adjustment being to accommodate the device to boat hulls of varying cross sectional shapes, or boat hulls equipped with keels of varying depth.

It will be appreciated that the entire structure is readily portable, so as to permit the structure to be erected wherever it may be needed. The user need only extend the legs l6 into the ground surface G, at the desired location, after which the hull rollers are adjusted as necessary. The device can then be placed in use, and when full use has been made thereof, the entire structure can be readily moved to another location.

Further, the device is so designed as to permit the same to be used as a portable dry dock, and it might be desired, for example, to use a pair of the illustrated structures, to support opposite ends of a boat while the same is being maintained or repaired for further use.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it might be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated By reason of i and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for beaching and launching boats comprising: a stationary support frame including spaced legs having means at their lower ends extendable into the ground; roller support brackets mounted on the upper ends of the respective legs; keel rollers journaled at their opposite ends in and extending between said brackets; hull roller support shafts having angularly related end portions, one end portion of each shaft extending vertically and being mounted for vertical adjustment in one of the brackets, and the other end portion of each shaft being inclined from the vertical and extended in a direction away from its associated bracket; and hull rollers rotatably mounted on the last-named end portions for adjustment with the hull roller support shafts to selected elevations relative to the keel rollers.

2. Apparatus for beaching and launching boats comprising: a stationary support frame formed substantially to an inverted U shape to provide a horizontal bight extending transversely of the upper end of said frame, and vertical legs depending from the opposite ends of said bight, said legs being pointed at their lower ends for extension thereof into a ground surface; stop members secured to the respective legs and engageable with said ground surface for limiting movement of the legs into said surface; roller support brackets secured fixedly to the upper ends of the respective legs, said roller support brackets being respectively formed to a C shape and being projected laterally in opposite directions from the sides of the frame; keel rollers having their opposite ends journaled in the bights of the respective brackets, said keel rollers extending in parallelism with the bight of the frame; hull roller support shafts carried by the respective brackets, said shafts each having a lower, vertically disposed end portion slidably mounted in its associated bracket for vertical adjustment, each shaft having an upper end portion inclined upwardly and outwardly from its associated bracket; means carried by the brackets for locking the shafts in selected positions of vertical adjustment; and hull rollers rotatably mounted upon the upper end portions of said shafts.

DONOVAN A. LEE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 223,685 Toellner Jan. 20, 1880 2,554,398 Brei May 22, 1951 

